Thoughts on HR1586 August 11, 2010

Congress took money from defense, food stamps, and will tax Americans working overseas (for 10 years!) to pay for “teacher jobs” and propping up Medicare… First off, why did it take TEN YEARS of cuts and sacrifices by Americans before this bill is deficit neutral? Second, I thought we had a few wars going on, why cut BILLIONS from defense? Third, I thought Medicate was the wonderful example of Gov’t healthcare, why must it be bailed out (for six months of benefits, paid for with 10 years of taxes)? And finally, who thinks that cutting food stamp payments in 2014 (rolling them back to ‘pre-stimulus’ levels, AKA 2008 levels) is the best way to restore a couple of teacher jobs?

Once this bill is understood (BTW, love the name “___________ of __________”), many on the left will join the right in opposing it.

What gets lost in the discussion is that this bill took the place of the ” TARP Bailout Bonus” clawback taxes AND the investment in Air Safety initiatives that were the previous bills under this number (H.R. 1586) – both bills were scrapped to get this pandering POS bill on Obama’s desk ASAP, before elections…

How many teacher’s jobs will this restore? I bet almost none, since the money won’t come until after school starts, expect to see a lot of federally-funded programs that don’t involve re-hiring teachers… And what happens to any teachers hired this year under this bill? Will states suddenly find the hundreds of millions they need to retain them next year?

This is like taking out a ten year loan on this seasons NFL Season Pass on satellite TV – it seems like a good idea, but wait until the season is over and you still have 9 1/2 years of payment stubs before you’ve paid it off!